My friend's got a bag of dried Himalania Goji Berries as a gift. He was told that this type of Goji berries are good for eye-sight improvement if one eats about 20 each day.

I tried it and the taste is not bad. According to the back of the bag, it states that the Himalania Goji berries are grown organically and have been certified as 100% organic.

According to the product website, it states that "Goji berries are found to contain 18 Amino Acids, more Beta Carotene than carrots, more Iron than spinach, and 21 Trace Minerals. Also contain Vitamin B1, B2, B6 and E. ..."

I never know that I can eat those dried Goji berries as a daily snack. I do buy them as one of the ingredients for Chinese medicine soup (e.g., chicken soup with Chinese herbal medicine). I think Bulk Barn also sells those dried Goji berries (but I don't know if they are from Himalania though).

Now, if I want the same type of Himalania Goji Berries, does anyone know where I can buy them? I think it is healthy to eat these berries instead of potato chips.

Market Organics on York, Herb & Spice (the Bank Street store has a large rack of goji berries - some organic - and that bag looks familiar so I'm thinking - yes), or Rainbow Foods on Richmond.
I've tried two types from H&S - the first package had berries that were nicely squishy/tasted fresh and the second bag were hard little rocks - which I rejuvenated with a bit of water.

I now buy mine at Market 168 (reads "Lycium fruit" on the package and is about 1/5 - or less - the price of H&S's - but, no, doesn't say organic on the package). I rinse/drain a few times and then soak before eating. I use them like/in place of raisins or cranberries etc..

Note: The great majority of commercially produced goji berries/wolfberries/Lycium fruit come from north central and western China. I've read that (often) the association with the Himalayas is to make them more appealing to buyers here. For example: if you do a bit of searching, you'll find Tibetan goji berry producers that worn the ones from China are NOT the same (but some of those sites are full of emoticons so...hmm). You have to do a bit of tasting/weighing the info and decide for yourself.

Listen to AMR and go to Chinatown. You'll get the real deal for a fraction of the price and you'll avoid the disturbing trend I've noticed with a few of the "new age" food suppliers to include extras like sweeteners.

These berries bring back unpleasant memories of soups I drank as a child so I never thought of it as a snack food. I guess I’ll have to give it a try. Goji berries can grow in our region as my mother has a few plants in her garden

Is Himalania a trade name? It reminds of an episode of Kitchen Nightmares where the chef admits to spelling Crab Cakes on the menu with a K so that “people will know that it is imitation crab.”

that's hilarious I'd love to see that episode. I remember someone saying in Canada I don't even think they need to disclose when surimi is being used in place of the real thing anyone know if that's the case? (too lazy to try looking that up in under 2 minutes)

I think gogi berries "work" as a health food, but none of them come from Tibet, despite the marketing. The Tibetian palteau is very arid and commercial berry production there would be impossible. Your Tibetan berries are likely grown in China.

Since the early 21st century, the names "Himalayan Goji berry" and "Tibetan Goji berry" have become common in the global health food market, applied to berries claimed to have been grown or collected in the region . Although none of the companies marketing such berries specifies an exact location in the Himalayas or Tibet where their berries are supposed to be grown, Earl Mindell's website states that his "Himalayan" Goji products do not actually come from the Himalayas, but instead from Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and the Tian Shan Mountains of western Xinjiang, China.

Although ''Lycium'' species do grow in some regions of Tibet, commercial export production of wolfberries in the Tibetan Himayalas must be a myth fabricated for a marketing advantage, as this mountain range bordering the Tibetan Plateau is a region inhospitable to commercial cultivation of plant foods of any kind. In the Himalayan foothills, bleak desolation is unrelieved by any vegetation beyond sparse, low bushes, whereas eastern valleys and plains of the Tibetan Plateau at lower altitude support growth of wild ''Lycium chinense''.

The Tibetan Plateau, comprising most of Tibet north and east of the Himalayas, lies at more than 3000 m in altitude, with poor soil and arid climate conditions unfavorable for fruit crops. Defined by the geography of Tibet, particularly in the western Himalayas, cold nighttime temperatures averaging -4°C year round with six months of continual frost would inhibit plant bud development and prevent fruit formation. Existing in Tibet are minimal subsistence agriculture and impoverished crop management and transportation facilities unsupportive of commercial berry production. Although limited fertile regions suitable for food crops exist in the valleys of Lhasa, Shigatse, Gyantse, and the Brahmaputra River, there are no objective economic, scientific, or government reports on the commercial production of ''Lycium'' berry species from these Tibetan regions.

Ashley - you can get these at almost any store in Chinatown. The Chinese Herbalist across the street from Kowloon Market sells them for around $7 a bag. But the Kowloon Market itself sells them, cheaper and they are more moist too, kind of like raisins. The Chinese Herbalist ones are quiet dry and chewy. don't get me wrong, he sells quality stuff and I buy other things there, but I prefer the goji berries from Kowloon Market for snacking.

p.s. Most of the benefit from the berries purportedly come from the tiny seeds, just as much of the health benefits of grapes come from eating the grape seeds. Grape seeds are perfectly edible and crunchy (unlike apple seeds which contain small amounts of cyanide). Some people make tea with their goji berries, and the Mongolian Hot Pot on Bank puts them in the soup stock, but then you are not eating the seeds that way.

p.s. You can easily grow these yourself if you want to be sure they are organic. Just soak in water overnight, plant in some potting soil, and they will germinate. They will survive the Canadian winters in Zone 5 (Ottawa) and start producing in the 4th year, with production increasing as the plant grows bigger. It eventually grows to the size of a medium sized bush and can make a fine hedge. Supposedly many Chinese families in Ottawa have a some growing in their backyard.

I've never had the fresh berries, but a friend of mine who grew up in China says he spent his childhood in the countryside "eating tons of them" and the fresh berry is really good.

p.p.s. Birds really love them too, and will eat your entire crop; you have to use netting to keep them off.

Vorpal - when you go in the main entrance, go to the second aisle on the right and it's on the left hand side, I think. Here is a pic. Sorry, I cut off the corner when opening the pack.

I find when I start eating them I get a lot of energy, but after a couple of weeks of snacking on them the effect plateaus. But it can be had again if I stop eating them for half a year or so. I'm guessing they re-supply a trace nutrient deficiency and once you load up on it the effect stops. So yes, I think they are a valid health food, but there are also many wild claims out there on what goji berries can cure too, outright false or exaggerated. There may be some validity to them being healthy for the eyes though. Perhaps they are good source of chromium . . .

Now, if you're looking for something to lessen inflammation (which commonly lies at the root of many diffuse health problems), then a better bet would be to cut out inflammatory foods (like trans fat) and take things like maritime pine bark extract, betaine, folic acid, bromelain, omega-3, etc., or get them naturally from foods. But these are not the only foods / nutrients that lessen inflammation, and there are many alternative choices. It may be that longevity is closely tied to reducing inflammation; there is a lot of scientific evidence that it is involved in many aging processes.

Here is an article on inflammation I recently came across. You can also google it, as it's a hot topic for scientific research.

I now got my Goji Berries from Yee Cheong Tong (Yee Cheong Tong ). Their are bigger with better quality than those at Chinese grocery stores. I checked out Bulk Barn, but I found that the quality is not as good as Yee Cheong Tong.

First Happy new year and may you good business in this totally new year!

There is good news that we have 9tons 200 grains Tibetan goji in stock now, super size, sweet, which is USD7.354/KILO ONLY. Recommend this range to you, hope you will interest in it, as I am sure you will gain more profit from this goji price.

Why we send this high quality goji at such low price is only because one of our customer’s sales condition is worse than purposed, though he want purchase more, but their stock can ran until coming June, and we need funds for new business, so intend to expand more new customers by these goji berry.